The present invention pertains to an indicator system employing a combined lens that emits light in multiple directions. The indicator system may be used to display the status of electronic equipment, such as a personal computer (PC).
Conventionally, in electronic equipment such as notebook PC""s, status display has been provided by causing an indicator to illuminate, or displaying icons so that the user can check the power status, electronic equipment status, etc. For the status display in the notebook PC, an LED is often used as the light source of the indicator because of size, cost, and ease of mounting on a board, and the LED is typically of the SMT (Surface Mount Technology) type, which is very small and has a rectangular outer shape.
In the above described conventional indicator system, two light sources are generally required to simultaneously provide the same status display at two or more locations. The use of two light sources to indicate the same status is problematic, in that it increases the number of parts, manufacturing cost and power consumption, thereby shortening the battery life in a notebook PC, personal digital assistant, or other battery operated device.
Therefore, it is the object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art dual light source status indicator.
The indicator system of the present invention is related to a technique for simultaneously providing the same status display at a plurality of locations, in which status display is given in the first light emission direction and second light emission direction of a single light source. This allows status display to be given in a plurality of directions with one light source, and thus the same status display can be simultaneously provided at two or more locations without increasing the number of parts, resulting in reduction of the power consumption.
As a preferred specific example of the indicator system of the present invention, a rectangular LED is used as the light source, and it is constructed so that the first light emission direction is a direction perpendicular to a principal surface of the LED, while the second light emission direction is a direction parallel with the principal surface of the LED. As such LED, a small-sized, rectangular LED of the SMT (Surface Mount Technology) type is usually used for reasons such as easiness of mounting on a board. The directivity of the light emitting section of this LED is poor as compared with another type of LED shaped in a bullet and having a condenser lens in the top end thereof and a reflecting mirror in the light emitting section thereof, and, when it illuminates, a substantial amount of light also leaks laterally of it (in the direction parallel with the principal surface) as well as from the luminescence surface (in the direction perpendicular to the principal surface). In the present invention, by using this characteristic, the status display in the second light emission direction other than the first light emission direction is provided by the laterally leaking light.
Further, as a preferred specific example of the indicator system of the present invention, status display by an icon display section is provided in a first light emission direction, and status display by a luminescence section is provided in a second light emission direction. In this case, normally the status can be checked by the icon display section, and when the cover is closed for mobile use and the status display by the icon display section in the first light emission direction cannot be identified, the status display can be identified by the luminescence section in the second light emission direction. Specifically, a preferred example in which the present invention is applied to the LCD panel of a notebook PC can be constructed so that the icon display section is arranged in the same side of the LCD panel as the LCD panel face to allow the status display by the icon display section to be visually checked when the LCD panel is opened for use, and so that the luminescence section is arranged in a side of the LCD panel that is perpendicular to the LCD panel face to allow the status display by the luminescence section to be visually checked when the LCD panel is closed for mobile use.
Further, as a specific preferred example of the indicator system of the present invention, a main lens structured to prevent surface reflection by using a concave incident surface is arranged on the first light emission direction side of a light source, and a secondary lens of a concave structure is arranged on the second light emission direction side of the light source. In this case, light in the first light emission direction can be condensed to further increase the amount of light, and light in the second light emission direction can be scattered to allow the status display to be checked from a wide range of directions. In addition, more preferably, the main lens and the secondary lens are integrally formed to enable easy handling of them, and the surface of the main lens that is in contact with the icon display section is sized the same as the surface of the icon display section to eliminate shortage of light at the edge of an icon in the icon display section.
The combined lens used in the indicator system of the present invention is constructed as follows. That is, it comprises a first luminescence surface, a second luminescence surface, a first concave surface for reducing surface reflection of the light from a light source and conducting the light to the first luminescence surface, and a second concave surface for reducing surface reflection of the light from the light source and conducting the light to the second luminescence surface. With this combined lens, the indicator system of the present invention can be accomplished in a more preferable manner.